To hear the people involved tell the story, it doesn’t seem possible 50 years have passed since the Mount Vernon Mustangs basketball team made history and won the state championship, but the facts are the facts.
It was mid-March of 1973, months shy of a half a century ago, when head coach Bob Landis led the first team from Mount Vernon to win the state championship in its history.
The last time they had even made it to the state tournament at any sport at all was over 50 years before that — in 1922.
It became clear early on in the ‘73 season this was no ordinary team, led by no ordinary coach.
Landis got a later start as a basketball coach, having started coaching football in Chicago.
But he would show a knack for coaching the sport that would blossom into a legendary career.
“I was 35 years old before I coached my first basketball game,” Landis said.
One thing he imparted to his Mount Vernon team early on was the importance of finding their coach’s voice through the sounds of a loud gymnasium.
“I never used a whistle — because I wanted the kids to hear my voice,” said the coach. Eventually, “Even with all those people, they knew what I was saying.”
Success soon found the coach and the team, and the pieces of the 1973 championship team began falling into place the season before.
One of many crucial pieces was Mark Kerr, who was a junior in high school, and a standout on his team in West Branch.
“Mark was the best basketball player that his hometown had before he came here,” said Landis.
A chance encounter between the coach, Kerr, and Kerr’s father at a golf course led to the senior Kerr mentioning he was considering moving to town, and inquiring if there might be a spot on the team for his son.
It turned out, there was.
“His junior year, they didn’t win any games. And the next year, he was on a team that won 27 in a row,” Landis said.
During Kerr’s junior year, the Mustangs were on the rise — going 18-2 overall and losing in overtime in the substate final.
“I can remember in the locker room, the kids saying, ‘Next year, we’re going to win them all.’,” said Landis.
The big yearChristine (Hanson) Starkweather, representative of the Class of 1973, remembers the year fondly. Landis was her government teacher her senior year.
The team was slowly — and decisively — winning each game they played, rated tops in Class A, and excitement started to build.
“It was kind of a big deal, all the way through the whole season. For them, and for Mr. Landis, I’m sure,” Starkweather said.
“The whole school was just really excited. And really backing the team, and supporting them. There were big turnouts at the game,” she recalled.
“The places were always packed,” said Kerr.
Kerr, also in the Class of ‘73, was afraid it could all end at any moment.
“As we went along and won games, and with quite a bit of ease, there was always in the back of your mind that that would end. That you could get upset,” Kerr said.
Still, they were beating teams by a large margin every game, and Coach Landis was undeterred.
The closest a team had come to beating them all year was Wyoming, the coach said, who lost to the Mustangs by seven points.
“Other than that, nobody was even close,” Landis said.
In early March, the team learned they were truly going to represent their school at the state tournament at Des Moines’ Veterans Memorial Auditorium.
“It was almost ‘Hoosier’-like,” Kerr said of the town’s mood during the tournament. “Because everybody would close downtown. There wasn’t much else going on.”
“When state happened, I think they called off school, and let us go down to Des Moines to watch the games. It was a really big, big deal,” Starkweather recalled. “The whole town was pretty much excited about it at that point.”
Kerr remembers the view from the bus on the ride to Des Moines.
“I remember coming up the incline south of town where you can actually turn around and see all the way down Highway 1. I turned around, and it was solid cars and that’s when I thought, ‘Wow, that’s a caravan!’”
Coach Landis, at 90, seemed to have the clearest recollection of the experience in Des Moines of all.
“We went there the first of the week,” he said. “The first game was on Tuesday, and we stayed there the whole week and left Sunday morning.
“We always took them to good places to eat. It was a great experience for the kids, as well, because they got to eat out at restaurants and so on downtown,” said Landis.
This isn’t to say the week was perfect. Star player Phil Rilett, a junior, came down with a bad stomach bug, and was unable to participate much in the tournament.
Also, Landis said, “We had no place to practice.”
There was, however, a ballroom at the hotel the team was staying, and that have to suffice.
“We just walked through things. That was what we had to do.”
Even so, the Mustangs proved they had what it took to go the distance.
Walking into Vets Auditorium for the first time, said Landis, “was an experience, to say the least.”
The team defeated Belmond in the first round 73-66.
A Friday night matchup with Solon ended with the Mustangs winning 75-56, and advancing to the championship the following night.
They found themselves toe-to-toe with the number three-ranked H.L.V. Saturday evening, the only other undefeated team. A team with a perfect season had never won the state championship before. Whoever won would change all of that.
For his part, Kerr said he selected his shots carefully, shooting usually “two, three, four times a game.”
“The other guys were so good at it, I just had fun watching them,” he laughed.
Mount Vernon and H.L.V. played a tight game all night that went into overtime. The Mustangs were largely without the ill Rilett, and Jeff Werling, another stalwart for the team, was called for four fouls in the first half.
“It was the poorest game we played all year,” Coach Landis said.
Nevertheless, the Mustangs scraped by 67-64, and changed Iowa basketball history.
The team was welcomed back to the school as heroes the following day, with a 2 p.m. rally in the school gymnasium at which the mayor spoke.
Hal Hufford and Jeff Werling were selected for the all-tournament team.
Following the tournament, Kerr remembered his coach and teacher, whom he described as “sharp as a tack” and “emotional”, was clearly proud of their accomplishment.
“We saw the game film in government class probably 50 times,” laughed Kerr.
Eventually, the team graduated, and began to spread out around the country, with players like Rilett and Werling going on to play at the collegiate level.
And then, for a long time, the dust began to settle.
An old friend reaches outKathy Staskal, Mount Vernon Alumni Association Communications and District staff member, received an email from the retired coach asking for some assistance from the association to help get the old band back together to honor its 50 anniversary.
“For those guys, and all who remember, it would be a good thing,” the email from Landis said. “I just thought it would be exciting to see that group together again!”
“This would have went by if he hadn’t said something,” Staskal said. “The Alumni Association is glad to help when somebody speaks up and does something special.”
The process of tracking down the team began, although many have remained, or returned, to the area.
Planning commenced, and it was soon decided the team and its coach will sit behind the bench at Saturday’s home boys basketball game. The team will be recognized at halftime, and meet with the current players before the game.
A reception will follow the contest in the high school commons with punch and cookies, courtesy of the Alumni Association.
Sadly, the team will be without two of its key players in Randy Rundle (‘74) and Hal Hufford (‘73). Rundle passed away two years ago, while Hufford passed in the last year.
“Hal was something else,” Kerr recalled of his teammate and friend. “He was a pretty special guy. Hal was the all-around, kind of floor general. Just a quiet leader.”
“Hal was just a great player,” Landis added.
Hufford will be represented by younger brother Mike Hufford at the celebration.
Rundle, said Kerr, “didn’t play a ton of minutes, but he was very instrumental. A great guy. And a good football player, too.”
Starkweather is looking very forward to the big night.
“I’m excited to go to the game, because some of the class, and some of the guys on the team, I haven’t seen them for 50 years. That’s what I’m looking forward to for sure,” she said.
Fellow 1973 classmate Kevin Smith purchased the mini “Mount Vernon Mustangs” basketballs the team will be throwing out to the crowd, Starkweather noted.
“That’s the real nostalgic thing, when we were in high school, during the football games and basketball games, at half time, they threw out little balls that said ‘Mount Vernon Mustangs’ on them,” she said.
Coach Landis, who left Mount Vernon in 1979, found success at Linn-Mar coaching basketball. Ten years after his first championship, he took another undefeated team to the state tournament, again winning a championship and sealing his legacy. He became the only coach in Iowa high school basketball history to have undefeated state champs in two different classes.
Landis acknowledged he had help from physically talented teams.
“I was blessed, without a question,” said Landis.
He marveled that it was hard to believe “these kids” are now in their late 60s.
“But they look good! And I’ll bet they could still play,” he said, with a laugh.
Terry Studt (Class of 1974), Mark Sargent (Class of 1974), Aaron Van Dyke (Class of 1975), David Brokel (Class of 1973), Dirk Larsen (Class of 1973), Mark Walden (Class of 1974), Reid Goodrich (Class of 1973), Cal Woods (Class of 1974), Brian Dake (Class of 1975), Paul Brown (Class of 1973), Hal Hufford (Class of 1973), Phil Rilett (Class of 1974), Jeff Werling (Class of 1973), Mark Kerr (Class of 1973), Eddie Slach (Class of 1974), Randy Rundle (Class of 1974), Ken Landis (Class of 1975)
Join us in the Mount Vernon High School gym on Dec. 3 at 4 p.m. for the high school boys’ basketball game vs against Jefferson and celebration of the 50th Anniversary of the 1973 team’s state championship. The 1973 team will be introduced either prior to the game or at halftime. While they will sit behind the bench during the game, please join us for a public reception after the game in the high school commons.
Members of the Mount Vernon Band and community cheering on the team at the state tournament.